Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep Chadha shot by a third group?

Preliminary postmortem findings, while putting a question mark on the police theory that the two were killed in a shootout following a heated argument, have also pointed to this possibility.

NEW DELHI: Were liquor baron Ponty Chadha and his brother Hardeep shot by a third party? Preliminary postmortem findings, while putting a question mark on the police theory that the two were killed in a shootout following a heated argument, have also pointed to this possibility.

The forensic examination conducted by AIIMS doctors has revealed that the number of bullet wounds suffered by Hardeep was found to be roughly the same as that of Ponty — both being more than a dozen. But while four bullets were lodged in Ponty's body, there were none in Hardeep's.

"This is possible only under two circumstances. One, if Ponty was shot from a distance and Hardeep from close range. And two, if the firearm used to kill Ponty was a low-penetrating, locally-made weapon," said a source at AIIMS.

Senior cops said no such local weapon had been found thus far. "Apart from an AK-47, we have recovered only two weapons. Both are licenced pistols," said Vivek Gogia, joint CP (southwestern range).

Sources said if Ponty was indeed shot from a distance and Hardeep from close range, it is highly unlikely that the two groups had fired at each other. "A more plausible explanation is that they were shot by another group. But these are just preliminary findings," the source said.

Ponty was stockier than Hardeep but AIIMS sources said body fat was not a major indicator as to whether or not a bullet would pierce through.

The four bullets recovered from Ponty Chada's body - of which three were stuck to the muscles on the back - have been sent to Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) for ballistic examination to decide which weapon was used to fire the bullet.

"If it is found that the bullets were fired from a weapon that did not belong to Hardeep, then the theory of third-party involvement will gain ground," said a source in AIIMS.

Hospital authorities and the police remained tightlipped on the findings, refusing to even ascertain if both Ponty and Hardeep were shot from the front. Many legal experts have questioned AIIMS's decision to release Ponty's body initially without recovering the bullets lodged inside.

Sources said that postmortem examination of Ponty started at 1pm during which x-ray was also conducted, which clearly showed the bullets lodged inside.

"They took four hours to complete the postmortem and still did not extract those bullets allegedly because it would have left the body disfigured. That's ridiculous. How did they manage to recover the bullets later without disfiguring the body?" questioned an expert. The second postmortem was conducted on the insistence of senior police officers and also Supreme Court lawyer K T S Tulsi, said sources. Tulsi is believed to have convinced the victim's family that recovery of bullets was important to find out the killers.

On Monday, AIIMS forensic sciences department held a meeting to discuss the oversight but no official came on record to confirm the reason or action taken in that regard.

Delhi Police, though, stuck to its theory. "Our FSL team has visited the 42, Mandi village farmhouse and we are collecting forensic evidence that will bolster our case," claimed an officer investigating the case. The fact that the team had to visit the spot twice within four hours shows that the investigation is far from over.